ramblings about food, travel & life

(Kinda) Spicy Creamy Carrot Peanut Butter Soup

The other day I had two priorities: 1) make something nice for dinner 2) not leave my house for groceries. That made things a little tricky. But then I found this recipe, and a bag of carrots that were really ready to be eaten, half a jar of peanut butter, and a can of broth. Plus, this recipe said if you like spicy peanut sauce, you’ll love eating it out of a bowl in an actually very healthy soup. Turns out, TRUE.

So good I made it again after I finished the pot. And I even went out to buy more carrots. That good. Oh, and it’s also vegan. That’s fun– because obviously I don’t have a carton of cream lying around. The second time I made it without the recipe, because also easy. This soup is such a winner.

Mince the onion and the garlic, soften in a soup-sized pot (this is a one pot dish– the perks just keep coming). Wash the carrots well with a scrubbie, chop them as thick or fine as you want, toss them in. Or peel them if you have one of those and you want to.

Carrots. So tasty. Can also add potatoes, turnip, other veggies that will cook soft and blend smooth and creamy.

Add spices– in my first round I used powdered ginger and the second I used fresh, by peeling it roughly with a knife, and chopping it and putting it in. Since it all gets blended, the chopping doesn’t have to be great. But it does at a somewhat weird texture to some bites of soup so keep that in mind.

LOOK! SOUP!

Add a can of broth and to cups of water, or one bouillon cube and three cups of water. Simmer for about 15 minutes– then check the carrots and potatoes and make sure they’re soft. Turn off the heat.

Transfer part of the soup to a blender– add spice with cayenne, crushed red pepper, or red chili paste. Add half of your peanut butter and blend until smooth.

From pot to blender and back again

Ok so not super photogenic, but this is what smooth in a blender looks like

Continue in batches until the soup is fully blended and smooth. The reason I recommend adding only half peanut butter at a time is that it’s a pretty strong flavor and you can’t take it out once it’s in. But I probably ended up using more than 1/3 cup when I made it– but I really like peanut butter.